Coin Type Numbering

The coin type numbers given for commemorative coins refer to the reference numbers in the Rotographic publication “Collectors’ Coins – Decimal Issues of the United Kingdom“. For each denomination the different obverse and reverse types are also numbered to make each change easier to identify.

Incorrect, it is completely random and has been ever since writing was put on the edge of coins. It’s only recently become something people look at after a silly article in the Sun, which was completely made up. It’s not special, it’s 50/50.

Hello, I have 2 Benjamin brittain 2013 50p coins (blow bugle blow etc) but one of them has a reverse which is hard to describe, but the background looks grey and has a diagonal cross design which is the same patina or colour of the obverse it is about 4 mm wide, it is not inlaid either. There is also what looks like ink among some of the letters. I collect coins and wonder if this is unique. I will photograph it and if I can get the photo to you I will.

Sounds like the one with the dome mintmark which was only available during the festivities at the Millennium dome. If so, and if it’s in in original pack then it’s certainly worth more than face value, probably up to £15/£20 ish at the moment.

Those are the standard Latin abbreviation for Dei Gratia, Regina, Fidei Defensor – By the Grace of God, Queen, defender of the faith(s). Currently they are worth a bit more than face value simply because they are not yet found everywhere.

It probably depends on the condition of the coins. Are they from circulation or ones from those sealed packs. I know that the original album and the original completer medal are the most sought after items. And for the other 50p’s the Kew one is currently the most valuable.

Recently I bought 30 [three lots of 10] Magna Carta £2 coins in a sealed bags. The two bags I opened I found that the obverse of each coin had, what looked like, scratches. The scratches were not from being in the bag. Could these sealed bags be Royal Mint Rejects. How do dealers get these sealed bags?

They all seem to have those circular scratches around the Queen don’t they (and other £2 coins from mint bags). I seem to remember hearing somewhere that they arrive at banks in bags of larger quantity and that the plastic bags of 10 are bank bags that they distribute. I also wondered how that happens and have tried without any luck to find a perfect coin!

There are a number of ways that they can end up silver, from being made like that to having the copper layer chemically removed or those that have been plated in a silver coloured metal. If it’s the same size and weight as a normal one then it’s likely one of those 3 has happened. And £50 would have been a great price for it.

The new Peter Rabbit 50p coins now seem to include error coins with a ‘Seven Whiskers’ theme. And also some issues with the Queen’s head on the reverse. One was found to have 4 errors and another had a different error to the first I saw.

I don’t know if they’d be worth more than the un-errored Peter Rabbit but they’re very intriguing and starting to gain attention! Certainly collectible I think? Thoughts?

The extra whisker error is certainly a damaged (cracked) die and as far as I’m concerned is just a result of things going slightly wrong during mass production and seems quite common. The blob like things that often appear on the Queen are called cuds and also result from damaged dies that don’t get noticed and end up striking thousands of coins before they are replaced. The blobs seem to occur an awful lots on coins of the last 10+ years, I don’t know if that indicates that the RM have changed some process or the die alloy/hardness etc. To me personally blobs on coins are of zero significance. The extra whisker die crack on the Rabbit 50p should also be of zero significance, but as it happens to be in a place that looks like an extra whisker and is thus easily observed by the general public, then there is every chance that people will be listing them on ebay by the hundred, and asking silly prices for them. If they ever do sell for more than a couple of quid it will no doubt cause even more people to look for, find them and feed another frenzy which will result in people paying way too much for a minor and (what appears to be a) very common error. Time will tell.

Yes, it’ll be interesting to see what time brings. The error in the Peter Rabbit coins may be quite common or turn out to be only in limited numbers so it could become a collector’s curio. Also if it is the only coin in the BP series with errors on it adds to its appeal. We’ll have to see what the other BP coins throw up. So far I’ve only seen Peter errors, nothing for JP and Mrs T.

I don’t think there are blobs on the Queen’s head side so much as what look to be spikes or lines coming out of her head and an apparently thicker outline around her profile. Anyway thanks for the feedback. It’s certainly quite an interesting little coin!

The American term ‘cud’ seems to be what they are called nowadays. Was there another name for the die break blobs at the RM? The quality of circulation coins is certainly down in recent years, do you know exactly when they stopped being strict with the blobs? Also, I’ve noticed that new coins out of new bags are awful these days. A few years ago you’d generally get at least 30-40% virtually un-marked coins, recently they seem to be covered in marks and grazes and weird spottiness as if the dies were marked. Is it a deliberate ploy to get people to buy coins in BU packs, as they tend to be the only way you can actually get quality coins?!

I have a two pence which has new pence on it but the side where the queens head should be is blank, it feels about the same weight as other two pence coins but appears just thinner. Could this be a error or is there another reason its like this

I have found a Team GB 2016 United Kingdom 50p Coin in my change. All I can find out is that it was released as a Brilliant Uncirculated. Has there been a release out for general circulation and what is the total mintage/likely value. It has a few minor dents/scratches.

Hi there,
I’m currently collecting all the 2015 coins for my son as that was the year of his birth. I have all the standard coins twice with 2 portraits of the queen (apart from the newer £2 coin but I’m sure I will get that eventually!). I also have one version of the manga carta and the BoB 50p. I haven’t yet come across the HMS Belfast £2 tho, reading articles about this particular coin it always suggests a circulated release of the coin with the newer portrait, but you don’t state this to be the case on your £2 2015 page. Should I be looking to pick up one of the royal mint sets on eBay as they will only get more expensive? that is if they are not going to be in general circulation apart from the 100 released.
Thanks,
James

I haven’t included a 5th (newer) portrait HMS Belfast coin yet, as they don’t exist. They are supposed to be appearing in circulation and as soon as they do appear, I’ll add it. Word is on the street that they will appear in circulation, so you should wait a little while.

Hi i have 2 of the 2016 rio 50p coins, I Also noticed on glancing at them both together an have checked in different lighting also have asked ppl there opinion as to of they spot same difference i did an it seems altho a new coin both same dated n released the same one is the usualy silver in colour as you would expect? An the other seems to have a different colouring to it? I would call it a rose gold tinge to it . Noticably colouring differs. Is this normal? I have quite a few 2pounds an 50p’s an curious to some of them hope to find out more info . Ive also 2pound coin were there writing is suposed to say “remenber remember the fifth of november” but my quite clearly says “Permember Permember ” is this also usual . Hope to hear back many thanx x

hi, have a new polymer £5 note missing the printed £5 in the top left hand corner – any advice on where to find out if its just been tampered with in any way, or if its a legitimate miss-printed note??

Hello
I have a £2 coin that displays the sure shield of Britain on it.
on your site, i have found it referenced as coin 33b as on the face side it says 2 POUNDS rather than TWO POUNDS.
Could you give some indication of its worth?
Many thanks

Hi I have a Charles Darwin 2009 £2 coin where he is facing an ape, the wording is slightly off centre and the wording around the coin appears to be upside down in comparison to other £2 coins. Does this make it more valuable than other? Or shall I just buy a lottery ticket 😂

Buy a lottery ticket. There is currently an odd fascination with ‘error’ coins, probably due to the media making a silly fuss about the odd genuine more severe error. If you look at coins closely you rarely find 2 exactly the same, they often have little mass production issues, things off centre, missing beads, raised blobs etc etc. And the writing on the edge is random, so can be one way or the other.

Pied as in Piedfort? Piedfort coins are double thickness of normal ones and are sold in boxes originally. They never tend to find their way into circulation. The normal coins should be worth 50p, but what some pay for them is down to them!

Hi I have 2 of the 2009 auld land syne £2 coins. I notice the writing around the edge (should auld acquaintance…) are different way round on each coin. So if I put them both face down side by side with the swirly txt facing up, one coin shows the side txt upside down and the other isn’t. Can someone tell me if this is a known error or any further info on it. I’ve tried searching web and can’t find anything, thanks

I get asked that a lot and am sure the question and answer must be on this page and others of the website. The answer is that the writing orientation around the edge is random, it can be one way or the other. Nothing special.

Hey there people I have been collecting just odd and unusual coins for something to do I have a guyfox one 1605-2005 but the 1605 and the 2005 are very oddly shaped the fives look like backwards 7 and the 6 is slanted anyone able to give me info

I have 2 x £2 coins, circulated but veey good condition, almost uncirculated you could say. 2015, The first World War 1914 – 1918. Type 33b made by JC. Are they of value? And a circulated 50p battle of britain with the denomination showing of 50.

Hi my girlfriend works in a betting office and comes home with all sorts ov coins, she has amassed all the Beatrix potter 50p set containing 5 different coins. Can u advice wat to do I.e keep them etc many thanks and what a great site !

No, I’m afraid I can’t. 1) I can’t keep answering valuation requests on here, it all takes too much time. 2) None of those coins are decimal UK coins and have anything to do with what this website is about!

Hello, I wondered if you could help. I have one of the 2007 abolition of slave trade £2 coins. I have read a lot about misprints with the writing around the edge being upside down. From what I can gather, mine is upside down compared to other £2 coins – ie. If looking at the queens head, the writing is upside down and facing the other side. Is this indeed a misprint and a collectable item? It is an edition without the DG printed. Thank you for your help.

It’s actually a damaged die. I have one where there is a faint line instead of a flag, indicating that it probably started as something hardly noticeable and then gradually broke/cracked and formed what does indeed very much look like a flag on the mast. The number that exist is anyone’s guess, but it’s certainly something that has been shown and queried a few times so is probably fairly common (but obviously lower than the total of that coin).

Hi, I have a Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games 2002 £2 Coin. On the side it says Manchestep instead of Manchester ? I have taken a photo and zoomed in and it looks like it was struck as a P and not an R as the groves show no indentation

Sounds very similar to the ‘Pemember’ on the Guy Fawkes coin. It’s highly likely that it was a quality issue when made and very unlikely that it started life as a P. Certainly the similar R/P on the Guy Fawkes coin also has no trace of the tail of the R.

Hi, firstly great site! I was given a 50p recently in my change did not bother commenting as its different to most. It’s larger the all other 50ps, looks like something to do with European Union , has the dates 1992 – 1993 at the top on the reverse with UK in between. Worth keeping ? Thanks for your time.

Hi, i have a 2 pound coin which is bigger than others but with no date on it, it has a standard queen head but on the other side there has a bird with a wheat stem in its mouth. I was hoping you could tell me the value of the coin. Thanks for your time.

Morning , I have just found one of the 2015 Navy coins flying the flag. Had I not stumbled across your site , there is no way I would have picked this up as an error given the positioning and the boldness of the image created. For anyone that hasn’t seen this yet it really captures a flag flying in the wind. I just read your last post where you point out the flaw occurs in different states , i.e building up from barely visible.
I was wondering what sort of time period it would take for a die to alter in this way and at what point it would be replaced. In terms of collecting coins would the more pronounced flaw be the most sort after ?
Many thanks. Jon

Thanks Jon. I think when there is any sign of a break the dies should be replaced, but that doesn’t seem to happen any more. And you’re right, it really is astounding how much it looks like a flag! From the number that I’ve seen I would imagine there must be thousands of them. It certainly seems to be more common than the incorrect die alignment 2015 £2 coin, which is estimated to be about one in 200. Perhaps it’s as common as 1 in 100? I really don’t know though, and a large sample of the same coins would have to be examined to even attempt to get an accurate rarity indication.

Hi
I have a £2 1999 rugby World Cup coin. The 1 in 1999 on the side is faded and when the rugby ball is facing up the writing on the side is the right way up (I think it is upside down).
Is it worth anything?

I have a slave abolition 2 pound coin 2007 is it worth anything? the beading on the queens head side is off center a little bit and apparently the writing on side is upside down which doesn’t make sense to me think its people just trying to get more money for themselves any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for clarifying this for me, this is why i asked you it was so confusing for me people are trying to sell them for 100 pounds online but it doesn’t seem to sell. just has a lot of watchers on ebay lol 🙂 your a star *

All coins with writing on the edge can have the writing up either way, it’s completely random. There was something completely made-up in the Sun last year and I have no idea what made them think otherwise – very sloppy, incredibly bad journalism.

I haven’t got a question, i just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful website and never ending responses to people’s queries. I for one will buy the coin book to help me in my coin collecting adventure 🙂

Hi I have a Britannia £2 coin with a die slip error. The invert though is not as severe as I expected – with the Queens bust straight the Britannia sits at around 90 degree tilt. Is it something of value or of interest to any collectors out there , fair price being agreed of course. Its vf to my untrained eye – definitely not uncirculated though.

Yes, the one I had was about 100 degrees out. It seems to have been a progressive slip. The more extreme the difference the more you are likely to get, but who knows on ebay these days, people do go a bit mad, often without really knowing what they are doing.

Thankyou Admin for your much appreciated reply. Given the volume of questions you’re undoubtedly asked, a response is ever more received with gratitude.
If I may trouble you further, do you suppose, given the progressive nature of the slip ( rather like a clock face in my minds eye ), will the released coin mintage error figures, likely increase in volume and be in addition to those originally quoted for the 180 degree inversion? From my own, likely weak research, it seems the figure initially quoted, is for all the coins that were released into circulation, that suffered errors due to an insecure die press. In which case, perhaps each increment of slip is indeed more unique and individual, than say 3000 coins that feature an identical error. A varying angle of interpretation for purely altruistic means, of course 😉

For error coins it’s generally impossible to know how many there are in circulation. All you can do is take a sample of x thousand coins and count the errors to get a rough ratio and work out a figure based on that. The bigger the sample of coins, the higher the accuracy but to actually know the real figure you’d have to have to look at all of the coins, and that’s no longer possible.

Sorry it’s taking so long. We’re just about to release an important upgrade to the Android version and then convert the whole thing to iOS. It will probably take at least a couple of months, sorry I can’t be more accurate.

Hi,
i stumbled across this website,and its fab.
Your knowledge is so in depth,so i was wondering if you could tell me about my coin i was given when i lived houston tx.
The coin is very heavy at 1.5 inch wide,with a print of a coin press one side and writing “casa de moneda del mexico” 1979 and has a pattern around the edge.
the other side has a print of a pair of out of balance scales with words “una onza troy de plata pura” ley.925 and peso33.625grammos and a very small design near the outer edge and a pattern around the edge.
i was told it was a coin from the silver bullion in mexico??
i was given this in 1992.
Also i was given a silver quarter dollar in my change with good ol george washington on it 1948.
Any info would be welcome.
Thank you for your time.

I wonder if you could possibly advise me, I have a error coin, it’s the aquatics 2011 50p. The coin I have has lines (of water) going over the swimmer’s face and it was redesigned so the face could be seen clearer.. I’d appreciate any advice please..

i have a lord Kitchener £2 coin. The writing on the front “our country needs you” is blurred and the Queens head on the back has a couple of errors. Is it something of value as I have been told its quite rare?

Modern mass produced coins are generally very often pretty rubbish when it comes to quality and they often have issues. Without seeing it I can’t really say if it is likely to be something of value, but I doubt it very much.

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